Martha Wainwright On World Cafe

On this episode, Martha Wainwright joins us to talk about her late mother, Kate McGarrigle, and to sing us some of McGarrigle's songs.

McGarrigle, who died after a battle with cancer in January 2011, made a series of wonderful albums with her sister Anna during a career that spanned decades, beginning with their self-titled debut in 1975. The duo is probably best known for its cover of Linda Ronstadt's "Heart Like a Wheel."

After McGarrigle's death, her family and friends — including Norah Jones, Teddy Thompson and even Jimmy Fallon — appeared at a series of tribute concerts in Toronto, New York and London. Legendary producer Joe Boyd assembled the best of those performances in a double-disc set called Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle.